Advice for Incoming VCU Freshmen

• Do Not buy Your Books from Barnes and Noble at VCU. Do use eservices to look on Barnes and Noble at VCU’s list of what books you will be needing for your classes and then take the ISBN numbers and input them into Half.com. I repeat, Half.com. You will save hundreds and hundreds of dollars. If you are in a time crunch at least go to VA Book company instead of Barnes and Noble, trust me.
• If you are a young female and any boys start hitting on you as you walk through the compass area do not have sex with them. Hold out on having sex with anyone that is straight edge, period.
• If you’re relying on student loans in any shape or form they don’t seem like a weight hanging on your shoulders right now but they will later. Shaffer meal passes are more expensive than shopping wisely and feeding yourself. I suggest Nate’s Taco Stand on campus. Spend less than 7 dollars on your meals and you’re saving. You probably won’t even use all your swipes to get into Shaffer anyway which equals money down the toilet.
• The Library has a media center on the 3rd floor. Take your student ID up there and rent movies. Its like your very own Hollywood Video/Blockbuster or whatever movie rental or Netflix type deal you’re into only FREE!!!! They have a very broad awesome movie collection. Don’t be afraid to ask the people behind the desk for help.
• Renting a house with roommates will also be in many cases cheaper than dorms. Get out of dorms ASAP you will lead a more fulfilling life, and probably save money.
• If you have no job and want one it’s going to be beyond hard for you to find one. The only hope is to apply to the bookstores before the end of the semester and before the semesters begin for temp work. Take the temp work and apply early because everyone wants a job and of course, Early Bird Gets The Worm.
• Are you Crazy??? Go to the commons, upstairs to the counseling center and get free counselors, psychiatrists, group therapy, etc. They are high quality and professional. Then you take the prescription they offer you over to student health and get it filled for way way cheap. You will never again in your life have access to free therapy, and if you think you don’t need it then you’re crazy, which means Go!
• If you like to work out listen up, VCU has gyms available to you for free. Especially before you make a bunch of friends and still have time on your hands go workout. You will never again have such facilities available to you for free. Take advantage. There is a pool.
• Coffee shops are a cheap way to get out and about as a budding underage socialite. Get a cup of coffee and go sit with a book, you will make friends or at least get some casual conversation out of it. A cup of regular coffee is the cheapest date in town by the way, and dating is way cute. Go walking around campus and you’ll discover some sweet coffee shops. Ignore the Starbucks in the library. Ignore it. I once gave in and purchased a bagel from there and then discovered the mold halfway through eating the bagel. I nearly died.
• Any VCU food place, Subway, Bagel Whatever, Quiznos is going to give you horrible service with a horrible attitude and an extremely long wait in line. Avoid these places like the plague. If you have a meal plan I hope you are starting to regret it. I once saw an employee of the food places in the commons drop a box of plastic (unwrapped) forks all over the carpet and then gather them up off the floor and put them into a basket for students to use, upon further examination I saw a long blond hair tangled amongst the forks. Remember this story.

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